2nd annual Sun Sentinel Blue Ribbon Thanksgiving Bake-Off

More than 300 people competed in the second annual dessert bake-off, but only six were chosen as finalists.

More than 300 people competed in the second annual dessert bake-off, but only six were chosen as finalists.

John Tanasychuk, SouthFlorida.com

More than 300 stepped up to the plate, entering their desserts to the 2nd annual Sun Sentinel Blue Ribbon Thanksgiving Bake-Off, sponsored by Publix.

But, only six were chosen as finalists.

And, it was Towana Bonaparte that won.

Bonaparte’s Cranberry orange pecan bars might best be described as a meeting of Massachusetts, Florida and Georgia with each state represented by an ingredient.

The bars are a specialty of her 91-year-old grandmother, Lula Anderson, who lives in Newton, Ga. When her grandmother started to show early signs of dementia a few years ago, the family finally started writing down her recipes.

“It’s something that she’d make every time we’d go her house,” says Bonaparte, 33, a bookkeeper in the technology department of the Broward County School Board. “I don’t care what was going on. It if was funeral, she was making it. If it was a holiday, she was making it.”

Like the other six finalists, Bonaparte’s dessert presents the flavors of Thanksgiving in a novel way.

Bonaparte says she was shocked to take home first prize of a $250 Publix gift card. “Because everybody’s presentation was so great and here I come with my little Pyrex dish and aluminum foil,” she says. “I’m thinking ‘Not this time, but maybe next time.’”

Judges – Wes Bonner, Apron's resident chef; Josh Gripper, pastry chef at The Dutch in Miami Beach; Lenore Nolan-Ryan, owner of a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea cooking school and catering; and myself — loved the unique flavors of the bars. While they may not a Thanksgiving dessert centerpiece, they’re perfect alongside pumpkin or pecan pie. They’d also be a great addition to holiday cookie trays.

Second-place winner was Bonnie Hoffman of Boca Raton, who took home a $100 Publix gift card for her Cranberry apple pumpkin bundt cake with maple glaze and sugared pecans. A third place prize — one free cooking class at Publix Aprons Cooking School in Plantation — was awarded to Jan Kerlin, of Plantation, for her Luscious chocolate pecan pie with coffee cream.